Game board



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l. N. EWAN- GAME BOARD Filed Dec. l1, 1922 Patented .lune 3, 1924.

UNITED STATES ISAAC' N. EWAN,-0F SHEFIFIELD, PENNSYLVANIA.

GAME BOARD.

Application filed December 11, 1922. Serial No. 606,215.

T @ZZ whom t may con-cern.'

Be it known that I, ISAAC N. EWAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Sheiiield, in the county of VVai-ren and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Game Boards, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is aspecifica-tion.

This invention relates to an improvement in game boards and particularly to a board on which base ball or similar games can be played.

The chief objectof the invention kis to provide a game board by the use of which the vvarious plays and situations that arise in a base ball game are duplicated` and in which the possibility of selecting any predetermined play is eliminated.

A further object of the invention is to. provide a game consisting of a daal on whlch great number of plays are lset forth.r This dial is located'in a compartment and driven continuously by a motor, the dial being invisible Qwhile in. rotation. In the casing is provided a brake mechanism and in the cover a slot closed by a plurality of plates, the withdrawal of any one of such plates actuating the brake mechanism and stopping the rotation of the dial.

Other objects reside in the details of con'- struction hereinafter set forth in the specificaftion and in the drawing which forms a part thereof and in which u Figure 1 isa plan view of one embodiment of this invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of theinvention with the cover of the compartment removed and the rotating dial fully exposed.

Fig. 3 is a plan view similar to Fig. 1, portions however being broken away to disclose various parts normally concealed.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged plan. view of the braking mechanism.

Fig. 5 isa cross sect-ion taken along ther line 5-5 of Fig.

Fig. 6 is a bottom view of the dial.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged: cross section taken along the line 7-7of Fig; 5; and

Figs. 8 and 9 are enlarged detailed. views showing the brakes inV inoperative and oper ative positions..

Referring to the drawing. reference numeral. 1() isusedl to indicate the casin in which various parts are"I enclosed,.- and w ich comprises a compartment 11 and a cover 12. Mounted in the compartment 11 on a shaft 13 is a dial 14 which is driven through the shaft 13 in any suitable manner. For the purpose of illustration there is shown a spring motor of the type often used yin phonographs which is wound by the handle 16 and the speed of which is regulated'by .a suitable governor operated by 4the rod 17. A spring 18 between the wall ofthe chamber 11 and a fixed washer 19 normally tends to move the rod 17 to the right, as shown in Fig. 3. Threaded on the end of the rod 17 is a. knob 2O which when turned in one di- 'rection will move the rod 17 to the left and when turned in another direction will move the rod to the right. The particular connection between the rod and the governor and details of construction of the motor are not shown because they form no part of present invention.

The face of the dial 14 is providedwith eight (.8) annular rows of legendson which are indicated the various plays that might arise under certain conditions. Thus, the row 21 sets forth various plays that might take place when there was no one on bases; the row 22, plays when there was a man on the first base only; the row 23, plays when there were meny on the first and second bases; the row 24, plays when there were men on first and third bases; the row 25, plays when there was a man on second base only; the row 26, plays when there were men on second and third bases; the row 27, plays when there was a man on third base only and the row 28, plays when there were men onvall three bases.

It will be noted that these rows are grouped in numbers accordingly to the likelihood of the particular conditions takingy place, that is to say, the same number of plays' are indicated in rows 21, 22 and 23, the most common conditions that actually exist in baseball games. The rows 251 and 25l have fewer plays because the conditions which they represent occur less often than the first set. The rows 26 and27 have still fewer plays because it is still less likely that those conditions should occur; and row 28 has the least number of. plays as it seldom. happens that the bases are full.

0n the under side of the dial 14 and @OrreSPOnd'ne t0, these four er011r$-0f-plays are provided four rings of stops or proiesllO Y facey of the dial.

tions. The outer ring 30 relates to the plays in rows 21, 22 and 23; the second ring 31 to the plays in rows 24 and 25; the third ring 32 to the plays in rows 26 and 27 and the fourth ring 33 to the plays in the row 28. It will further be noted that the number of stops in each ring is equal to the number of plays in the corresponding row, or rows, the reason for which will be set forth later.

Mounted on a platform 34 in the chamber 11 are a vseries of brakes 35, 36, 37 and 38. Referring to the Figs. y7, 8 and 9 it will be observed that each brake consists of an angle bracket. 39, the lower end of which is permanently secured to the platform 34. Pivoted at 49 to the bracket 39 is an arm 41 which carries a rod 42 pivoted at 43 thereto. The pivotal point 43 of the rod 42 is, as shown particularly in Figs. 8 and 9, made eccentric to the. pivotal point 40 of the arm 41 thus, as the arm is swung around its pivot the point 43 will be raised and lowered and consequently the rod 42 will be caused to reciprocate in a vertical plane. This reciprocation of the rod 42 is guided by an opening 44 in the upper arm 45 of the bracket 39. Each arm 41 `is raised and lowered by means of a. link 46 hooked into the outer end of the arm 41. The other end 47 ot the link 46 is bent at right angles to the main portion and the tip 43 is further bent parallel to the main portion of the link 46 so as to provide means of engagement for the manually controlled operating levers 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55 and 56.

As shown particularly in Figs. 4 and 5, the inner end of each lever is provided with a horizontal slot 57 in which the end 47 of a link 46 lies. The movement of the levers is guided by brackets 58 and the outer end of each lever is bent upwardly to receive a nut 59 and a knob or suitable handle 60. A spring 61 connected at one end to the link 46 and at the other end to the bracket 39 normally tends to hold the brake in inoperative position shown in Fig. 8. Upon retracting one of the levers the link 46 connected therewith will be moved to the left, as shown at Fig. 4, and the arm 41 moved upwardly intol the operative position, as shown in- Fig. 9.

Since there are only four rows of projections 30, 31, 32, 33 and four brakes 35, 36, 37 and 33 and since the plays in the rows 21, 22, 23, are in alignment and since the same is true in the rows 24 and 25, 26 and 27, itI is obviously unnecessary to provide eight rings of projections or eightbrakes, and, there- Jfore, as above pointed out, there are only provided four rings of projections which correspond to the four sets of rows on the The levers 49, 50 and 51 are suitably formed so that the retraction of any one of them actuates the brake 35 while the levers 52 and 53 similarly actuate the brake 36; levers 54 and 55 the brake 37; and lever 56 the brake 33.

Tn the cover 12 is provided a slot 62 which is closed by a plurality of plates 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70. Each or' these plates is mounted at the end of a rod 7l suitably guided by cross pieces 72, 73, and terminating in, a ring 74. The rods 71 are located in the same vertical planes as the various brake levers 47 to 56 inclusive, so that the ring 74 at the end of each rod can be slipped over the end of each lever preferably lying on the nut 49 and being held in position by the knob 60. rlhus the movement of any lever causes a similar movement of the particular rod 71 toV which that lever is attached. On the cover 11 in front of the various levers are placed characters indicating the situation in the game at which the levers are to be operated. Thus in front of the lever 49 is placed the. letters A B, showing that. this lever is to be used when there are no men on bases. Similarly infront of the 1ever 50 is the numeral 1; in front of the lever 51 the numerals 1, 2; in front of the lever 52,` the numerals 1, 3; in front of the lever 53, the numeral 2; in front of the lever 54, the numerals 2, 3; iny ront of the lever 55, the numeral 3; and in front of the lever 54, the numerals 1, 2, 3.

The projections or stops in the rings 30, 31, 32 and 33 are so located with reference to the rows 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27 and 28 that when any stop in ring 30 is held by the brake 35, the dial 14 is stopped with a legend in each row 21, 22 and 23 below the slot 62 so that one may be exposed by any of the plates 63, 64 or 65. Similarly the braking mechanism 36 stops the dial with a legend in row 24 and one in row 25 below the slot 62 and exposed by the plate 66 or the plate 67 the braking mechanism 37 stops the dial with a legend in row 26 and one in row 27 below the slot 62 and exposed by the plate 68 or the plate 69; and the. braking mechanism 38 stops the dial with a legend in row 28 below the slot 62 and exposed by the plate 70.

In the cove-r 11 is provided the outline 75 of a base ball diamond having a home plate 76, and first, second and third bases 77, 7 8 and 79. This diamond has no particular connection with the operating mechanism above described but is provided to facilitate the use of the board and to carry the simultationy of the actual base ball game as far as possible.

lVhen playing the game the motor 15 is first wound up by means of the handle 16 and its speed regulated by means of the rod 17, a certain lost motion being provided to permit a slight retraction of lthe rods 71 so that the speed can be observed through the slot 62. The spring motor preferred is one which will rotate the dial at a pro-per speed l. Ul)

continuously for at least one hour so that it will not be necessary to wind the motor more than once in each game.

Having set the dial in operation the player whose side is at bat first places a disc or man on the home plate 76 and pulls the lever 49 in front of which is provided in the cover the letters A B. lVhen the lever 49 is pulled out the link 46 will be retracted and brake 35 will be actuated elevating the rod 42 so that it strikes one of the projections on rod 30 and 'stops the rotation of the dial. At the same time upon retracting the lever 49 the plate 63 is also withdrawn, uncovering a portion of the slot 62 exposing one of the plays in the row 2l which appears at the opening when the dial stops and the player acts accordingly. In the particular instance, it is shown that when this takes place, the dial indicates a home run.

Let us consider, however, that instead of a home run the play on the row 2l which is exposed places a man on first base, either as the result of a base on balls, hit, an error, or some other play. The player now repeats the operation withdrawing, however, the lever which it will be noted, is indicated by the number 1, meaning a man on first base. The action which now takes place is substantially the same as previously described except that the plate 64 is retracted and the dial is held against rotation by contact of brake 35 with one of the stops in the row 30. In addition to the legends A B and 1 the cover is, as pointed out, also provided with other legends l, 2; l, 3; 2; 2, 3; l, 2, 3; each being opposite one of the knobs so that the board can be actuated in accord with the position of the men on the diamond.

As soon as the lever is pushed back and the -rod 42 is withdrawn from contact with projection the dial immediately starts to rotate. It will thus be impossible for any one even though he may know the order of the plays as they appear in any one o f the rows to stop the dial at any particular play. This is due to the fact that while rotating the dial is completely concealed.

While one embodiment of this invention has been shown and described, I am not to be limited thereto since itis obvious that others may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention set forth in the following claims.

Having thus set forth my invention, what I claim as new and for which I desire the protection of Letters Patent is: A

l. A game board comprising a compartment and a cover therefor, a dial in said compartment provided on its face with a plurality of rows of legends indicating plays, means for rotating said dial, said cover being provided with a slot below which the rows of legends pass, plates normally clos ing said slot, braking mechanism for counteracting the operation of said dial rotating means and unitary means for simultaneously actuating said braking mechanism and retracting one of said closing plates whereby the dial is held against rotation with one legend exposed below the open portion of the slot.

2. A game board comprising a casing, a rotating member therein, said member bearing a plurality of rows of play-indicating legends, said casing being provided with a slot, braking mechanism for stopping the rotation of said member when a legend in any selected row is below said slot, plates normally closing said slot and connections between said braking mechanism and said plates whereby the plate covering the legends in the selected row is retracted to expose in said slot the legend held below it.

3. A `game board comprising a casing, a rotating member therein, said member bearing a plurality of rows of play-indicating legends, said casing being provided with a slot, braking mechanism for stopping the rotation of said member when a legend in any selected row is below Said slot, plates normally closing said slot and manually operable levers connected to and actuating said braking mechanism and said plates whereby the actuation of said braking mechanism and the stopping of said member takes place simultaneously with the retraction of the particular plate which will expose the held legend iu the selected row.

4. A game board comprising a casing, a dial in said casing, means continuously tending to rotate said dial, a plurality of rows of play-,indicating legends on one face of said dial, a plurality of rings of projections on the other face of said dial, a brake for each ring of projections including a rod which when elevated will engage one of said projections and hold the dial against rotation, said casing being provided with a slot over said rows of legends of a width equal to that of any legend, a plurality of plates normally closing said slot so that the dial when rotating is concealed, levers for operating said brakes and connections between said plates and said levers whereby when a brake is actuated to engage one of the projections in a selected ring, the plate is retracted which, will expose the legend of a certain predetermined row that is held below said slot.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature.

ISAAC N. EWAN. 

